The science department at New Providence High School is happy to welcome Biology teacher Rachel Fintz.  

Ms. Fintz teaches Biology, Marine Biology, and Oceanography.  These courses are special to her since she has, ”fieldwork experience working with small mammals as well as marine biology work off of South Water Caye in Belize” according to her new teacher summary. 

Fintz attended college at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. During this time, she studied a semester abroad in Belize where she overlooked, “coral mucus, the interaction between small fish communities and coral reefs”. This experience greatly influenced the way she chooses to teach and her desire to spread her love of biology to teenagers and to give students an in-depth experience with science. 

First, she started her teaching career at Madison High School. Here, she worked as a student teacher up until she got a job at New Providence High School.

After being an energetic teacher during school hours, Ms. Fintz spends her free time playing the string bass in the Summit Symphony. But when life gets complicated, she likes to read as a de-stresser. 

While you may think a Marine Biologist would have tons of extravagant pets, Ms. Fintz only has one animal, a dog named Tucker. 

Ms. Fintz separates herself from other science teachers as she likes more of a hands-on teaching approach. During her time at the South Water Caye, Ms. Fintz gained her sense of hands-on learning and hopes to reproduce that aspect in her classroom. She states that she wants to take what she learned in Belize and teach it to her students in a more exciting and less standardized way. Ms. Fintz also makes sure no student gets left behind as she keeps teaching until everyone understands. 

Ms. Fintz’s hopes are that by the end of the year her students are able to take away a few things: the idea that everything in science is interrelated, the knowledge of how life systems work, and most importantly, “how things interact with our environment to give us the world we see today”.

She hopes to achieve these goals by introducing many new things to her students such as, “Wednesday Smile Moments”. This  time at the beginning of class every Wednesday is necessary since, “Wednesday is midpoint of week and everyone needs a mental break” said Ms. Fintz. For those who don’t know already, a “Wednesday Smile Moment” is a cheesy song with lyrics that match the topic you are learning about. Ms. Fintz also added that these days science is too caught up in textbooks and needs a break sometimes. She finds that these give students the chance to understand and have fun. While not all students enjoy the painful sounds of the overly auto tuned songs, many people still take the time to dance as that is what truly puts a smile on everyone’s face. 

While some students appreciate her detailed notes and others like her passion for spreading ideas, everyone can agree that Ms. Fintz is a kindhearted and compassionate teacher.